A gas turbine engine may be used to power various types of vehicles and systems. A particular type of gas turbine engine that may be used to power aircraft is a turbofan gas turbine engine. A turbofan gas turbine engine may include, for example, a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. The fan section induces air from the surrounding environment into the engine and accelerates a fraction of the air toward the compressor section. The remaining fraction of air is accelerated into and through a bypass plenum, and out the exhaust section.
The compressor section, which may include a high pressure compressor and a low pressure compressor, raises the pressure of the air it receives from the fan section to a relatively high level. The compressed air then enters the combustor section, where a ring of fuel nozzles injects a steady stream of fuel into a plenum. The injected fuel is ignited to produce high-energy compressed air. The air then flows into and through the turbine section causing turbine blades therein to rotate and generate energy. This energy is used to power the fan and compressor sections. The air exiting the turbine section is exhausted from the engine via the exhaust section, and the energy remaining in the exhaust air aids the thrust generated by the air flowing through the bypass plenum.
As the desire for greater power output and smaller packaging continues to increase, gas turbine engines have been configured to operate at higher temperatures and at high pressures. For example, compressor sections are increasingly being designed to operate at high pressure ratios (e.g., ratios of greater than about 35). However, these pressure ratios tend to cause the air flowing through the compressor section to exit at extreme high temperatures (e.g., above about 675° C.). Consequently, the materials conventionally used to manufacture some of the compressor components (such as monolithic titanium for impellers) may not be suitable for use in such environments.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have improved compressor components, such as impellers, that are adapted to operate under extreme conditions. In addition, it is desirable for the compressor component to be capable of operating in compressor sections that employ pressure ratios of greater than about 35, and which may yield air having temperatures of greater than about 675° C. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the inventive subject matter and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the inventive subject matter.